Printing apparatus.



w. WRIGHT. PRIIWING APPARATUS.

v APPLICATION FILED OCT. 6. 1905. 1 1m Q F 6 0 1. 1 L ,2 M 0 M Q PatentedSept. 7', 1915.

$0 WITNESSES; -v 6 ATZ'ORNEK intense.

WALTER WRIGHT, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNQR T0 ADDJRLESSOGBAEH GDMPANY, 0F GHIOAGD, ILLINOIS, A. GORPORATIQN Q15 ILLINQIS.

PRINTING- APPARATUS.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WALTER WRIGHT, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francis'co and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Printing Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a machine for printing from an inked ribbon or other transfer material for producing any desired number of copies printed in precisely the same manner as original typewritten copies, as distinguished from what are known as carbon copies, or copies made by stencil or other duplicating devices, the object of the invention being to provide an apparatus of this character which will be cheap and simple in construction and at the same time effective and rapid in operation.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a plan view of the apparatus; Fig. 2 is a broken longitudinal section of the same; Fig. 3 is a side view of the same; Fig. 4 is an end view of the same; Fig. 5 is a detail vertical sectional view of one of the racks; Fig. 6 is a detail horizontal section of a stop; Fig. 7 is a broken horizontal section of one of the winding spools and the supports therefor; Fig. 8 is an inner side View of the ratchet wheel; Fig. 9 is a top view of the same; Fig. 10 is a broken side elevation of the gripper mechanism.

Referring to the drawing, 1 represents a suitable frame, the side members 2 of which are formed with longitudinal grooves 3 to receive balls l upon which travel the grooved sides 5 of the carriage 6. Said carriage is reciprocated by hand by means of the handle 7 and contains the chase 8 having the type 9 set therein. It also carries at each end bearings 10 for the end supports 11, 12 of the winding roller 13 for the inking ribbon or other transfer material. One of said supports 11 comprises a plunger pressed outward by a spring 14; and hav ing a pointed pin 15 adapted to enter a socket in the end of the wooden winding spool, while the other support 12 comprises a shaft 16 having a cross bar 17 adapted to enter a slot in the end of the winding spool and having also a pin 18 adapted to enter a socket 19' in said winding spool. The winding spool can easily be placed in Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. "2, 11.215.

position by pressing back the plunger against the spring 14- so that the other end thereof is free from its pin, when it can be withdrawn. Each of said shafts 16 carries a ratchet wheel 20, the teeth of which are sired to throw the other out of action, it 1s depressed against said springs 24 and se cured in its depressedposition by means of a clamp nut 25 which is screwed over a threaded stem 26 projecting from the rack, said stem sliding up and down in a slot 28. The function of these ratchet wheels and racks is to advance the inking sheet 29 a suitable distance at each reciprocation of the carriage, and it will be observed that they cause a. prolonged rotation of the spool inasmuch as the rack has engagement with successive peripheral points of th ratchet. By this means the ribbon may receive a long feed between printing strokes which will be sufficient to prevent an appreciable exhaustion of the ink toward the end which it is approaching and thus give a uniformly inked impression upon the paper; If the ribbon receives a short feed, such as would ordinarily result from the engagement of a single pawl with a single tooth on the ratchet wheel, it will then progress so slowly over the type surface and lose so much ink at one end or the other of the type surface (depending upon the direction of its movement) that the resulting impression will be conspicuously fainter at one end than at the other, thereby losing its resemblance to real typewritten matter.

30 represents upwaf'd extensions of the sides of the frame, which are recessed at the top to receive and form guideways for boxes 31, in which are cylindrical terminal supports 32 carrying eccentrically the shaft 33 upon which revolves the pressure roller 34. Secured to saidshaft is a depending arm 35 which rests upon the side of the carriage as it reciprocates. When the car riage arrives at the end of its path, the but tom of the arm 35 drops over the end of assisted by springs 86 so that when the carriage returns it lifts the arm 35 in the other direction from that in which it was inclined in the former. movement of the carriage. In this way the arm 35 is rocked at each reciprocation of the carriage, pro ducing an angular movement of the sup ports 32 in their boxes. This angular movement of the supports produces a rise and fall of the shaft 33, and the consequence is that in one direction carriage the roller is in a raised position and in "the other direction of movement is in a lower position. Springs 38 normally raise said boxes, and the upward movement is limited by set screws 39.

In order to take-the paper off the inking ribbon after it has been printed thereby, there are provided two pairs of the gripper fingers 40, 41, of which the lower fingers 40 are stationarily secured upon a rod 42 mounted in posts 43, while the upper fingers are secured upon sleeves 44 on said rod 42, said sleeves carryingarms 45 extendingvdownw'ardly into the path of projections 46. When, in the movement of the carriage, said projections abut against the lower ends of said arms 45, they cause the sleeves 44 to rock, bringing the upper gripper fingers 41 down toward the lower gripper fingers 40 and causing said fingers to grip the paper which has been printed. In

order. to retain said fingers in either the open or the closed position as the carriage recedes, there are provided on said sleeves recesses 48, 49, into which can enter bent springs 50. Said springs enter into the recesses 48 with a snap when the grippers have moved downward and have gripped the paper, and maintain said grippers in their closed position. Said sleeves 44 carry upwardly extending arms 51 which are connected by links 52 with the upper ends of.

levers 53 pivoted at 54, the lower ends of which carry inwardly extending pins '55. As the carriage moves backward, these pins are engagedby pins 56 in sockets'57 (of whichthere are provided a series, for use with different sizes of paper), and the pins 55, striking the pins 56, operate said levers to raise the gripper fingers 41, and release the paper, which then falls on to the table below. In order to prevent the grippers being operated by said pins 55 and 56 upon the forward movement of the carriage, said pins have their ends beveled to pass each other, the pin 55 moving inward against the action of the springs 53.

59 are pressure strips outside the inking ribbon constituting supports for the edges of the paper at the top of the sheet where printing is generally not done, this being occupied by letterhead already printed. These supports are placed here instead of the type to enable the paper to be fed between the roller and the carriage. But for of movement of the 7 these supports, there being no type, there would be no feed. They can be adjusted for the purpose of providing for the commenc ment of feed of the paper at any desired point. It will be apparent also that, as the said supports are rotatably mounted, vertical guideways for said boxes, a screw arranged to moveeach box in its vertical guideway in one vertical direction, and resilient means arranged to move it therein in the opposite vertical direction, a type bed in said frame beneath said roller having parallel rows of type thereon, an inking ribbon between said impression roller and the type on said type bed, and means for re ciprocating one of said elements, the roller and type bed, relatively to the other, said frame having guides for said reciprocating element, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a frame, an impression roller a'rranged transversely to said frame, terminal cylindrical supports for said roller eccentric thereto, boxes in which. said supports are rotatably mounted, vertical guideways for said boxes, a screw arranged to move each box in its vertical guideway in one vertical direction, and resilient means arranged to move it therein in the opposite vertical direction, a type bed in said frame beneath said roller having parallel rows of type thereon, an inking ribbon between said impression roller and the type on said type bed, means for reciprocating one of said elements, the roller and type bed, relatively to the other, said frame having guides for said reciprocating element, and arms connected to said supports to turn the same, and arranged to be actuated by the movement of said reciprocating element, substantially as described.

In combination, a frame, a carriage reciprocable thereon, and having a handle for reciprocating the same, a chase in said car-, riage and type therein, an inking ribbon overlying said type, means, operated by the movement of the carriage, for advancing the inking ribbon thereon, boxes on said frame at the sides of the carriage, cylindrical supports in said boxes for the ends of a shaft, a shaft having its ends eccentrically secured to said supports, a roller loosely supported upon said shaft and having a yielding pressure surface, and means automatically operated, by the movement of the carriage in one direction to approximate the roller and type sufficiently near to cause llO said roller to be rotated by the frictional pressure on said yielding surface of parts carried by the carriage, operating through the inking ribbon and paper, and by the g'movement of the carriage in the other direction to separate said carriage and roller.

4. In combination, a frame, a carriage reciprocabie thereon, and having a handle for reciprocating the same, a chase in said caroverlying said type, means, operated by the movement of the carriage, for advancing the inking ribbon thereon, guideways on the frame at the sides of the carriage, boxes vertically adjustable in said guideways, supports in said boxes for the endsof a shaft, a shaft having its ends eccentrically secured to said so ports, a roller loosely sup.- ported upon s, shaft and having a yielding pressure su face, and means automatically operated, by the movement of the carriagc, in one direction to approximate the roller and type sufficiently near to cause said rolicr to be rotated by the frictional pressure on said yielding surface of parts by carriage, operating through ribbon paper, and by the f the car e in the other di ion, .riage reon, and havn 5 handle for m ame, a chase in said cartype, means, operated by the s carriage, for advancing the reon, b on i ass, a .a,.'ried by said 1 blflf) i 4.0

operated, by the movement k, in one direction to approXiand type sufi iently near to to be rotated by the fricyielding su face of rib" o. by the movement of the other direction separate s roller, and pressure strips caused by the carriage outside said inking ribbon, and adapted to contact with. said roller to re. n'essure strips be "moun a to slightly slightly ler upon the g 6., in c o: a carriage reciprocating; hereon, a spool removably supported at each o' the carriage, pressure roller over the carriage, a ratchet wheel for advancing each winding spool, and a rack each end of the frame for operating upon a corresponding ratchet Wheel, substantially as described.

s 7. In combination, a frame, a carriage reriage and type therein, an inking ribbon therein, an inking ribbon g a yielding sir-face, means tit ciprocating thereon, a Winding spool removably supported at each end of the carriage, a pressure roller over the carriage, a ratchet wheel for advancing each winding spool, a rack at each end of the frame for operating upon a corresponding ratchet wheel, and means for rendering each rack inoperative as desired, substantially as described.

8. The combination with a traveling bed, of ribbon-spools mounted thereon, ratchetwheels for the spools, racks stationary upon the framework in the paths of said ratchet wheels and directly engaging the ratchet Wheels to rotate the, same, andnleans for silencing either rack independently of the other.

9. The combination of a frame, a pressure roller mounted on the frame at approximately the center thereof, a carriage reciprocating on the frame, rollers mounted on the carriage near the ends thereof, an inking ribbon carried by said rollers and extending therebetween, a ratchet Wheel on each roller, and racks on the frame near the ends, in the path of movement of the ratchet Wheels for engagement with said wheels, said racks .being movable to take either out of the path. of the respective ratchet Wheel.

10. in a machine for printing imitation typewritten matter, a ribbon-covered typeformed surface and a platen roller coacting therewith, the one being reciprocatory With respect to the other, a pair of spools on which the ribbon is wound, and means for imparting prolonged. rotation to either of said spools, such means including a Wheel on the spool and a member arranged for en gageinent with successive points of the pew riphery thereof during one reciprocation of the parts.

11. A machine of the kind described, comprising a bed adapted to support type form, an ink ribbon overlying such form, and a platen roller coiiper with the ribbon covered form, said or and form. being relatively .reciproca the one with respect to the other, vvhc eby the roller is caused to roll on the form to make the im pression, and said roller being of such di ameter as "o perform 1 than a single rotation in the prii said parts, in comb A 01:: for opposits ends of the "cool having means whereby it in ed to Wind the ribbon thereon, *atus for operating said means be printing op erations of said roller, nd means for setting said apparatus to reverse the direction of ribbon movement.

12. A machine of class described, comprising a fiat type form, an ink ribbon coverlng it, and a platen roller coiiperating with such ribbon-covered form, said roller and form being relatively reciprocatory, the

whereby the roller is caused to an ink ribbon covering it and a platen roller cooperating with said ribbon-covered form, said roller and form being relatively reciprocatory, the one with respect to the other, r011 upon the printing imitation typewritten matter, comprising a type form,-

form to make the impression, in combination with ribbon spools at each end of the ribbon, having Wheel members whereby they may be rotated and an actuating member 91 for one oi? said wheel members adapted to impart a prolonged rotation to the ribbon spool thereof.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WALTER WRIGHT.

Witnesses:

F. M. 'WRIGI-Ir, K. L. NEVINS. 

